Harry Reid, John McCain push for boxer pardon

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid asked President Barack Obama on Wednesday to posthumously pardon African American heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson, who was jailed for transporting a white woman across state lines in 1913 under the Mann Act.

“We strongly believe that, given the racially-motivated circumstances surrounding Jack Johnson’s case, this conviction should be expunged from his record,” the senators wrote in a letter, calling the conviction a “miscarriage of justice.”